PCA Lady Eagles prepare for post season

By SKIP LEON Herald Sports Editor

Published 5:04 pm, Thursday, February 20, 2014

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PCA Lady Eagles prepare for post season

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The returnees on the Plainview Christian Academy girls basketball team feel like they have some unfinished business. Last year they were knocked out in the regional round. But they felt they should have advanced to the state tournament. This year the Lady Eagles have their sights set on the state tourney, and they're two wins away from getting there.

PCA begins its postseason trek toward the state Saturday when they host Wichita Falls Notre Dame Catholic at 2 p.m. at the PCA gym. The Lady Eagles won TAPPS District 1-1A with an unbeaten record and had a bye in the bi-district round.

"The girls are excited," PCA coach Andra French said after practice Thursday afternoon. "A lot of them are hungry from last year. We made the regional round last year and a lot of us felt like it shouldn't have been over. We should have been all the way at the state tournament. That drive is what is getting them to the point this year that they're understanding it all depends on us keeping our composure and playing our game instead of taking on the personality of the team we're playing."

The Lady Eagles' game is using a fast-paced swarming defense and their team speed to force turnovers and get easy baskets. They also have a strong inside game, led by Claudia Lusk, and good outside shooting from guards Hannah Smith and Madison Ortega.

PCA's main challenge Saturday will be containing Notre Dame's Michelle Fisher. French said the post player is virtually Notre Dame's entire offense. The coach traveled to Wichita Falls to watch Notre Dame's bi-district victory Tuesday and to scout both teams.

"They have two big girls and they rely on one of them (Fisher) the most," French said. "She primarily goes right every single time. They stray away from fast breaks. They stray away from a true offense. Mainly, it's get the ball to Fisher and let her do work and see what she can accomplish in taking her dribble and putting the ball up.I think she had 48 points the other night against the team we watched. She's definitely a force to be reckoned with."

So, PCA's game plan for Saturday revolves around stopping Fisher. She will have the Lady Eagles' utmost attention throughout the contest.

"We concentrated on different strategies to shut her down on the offensive end," French said. "Also, when she's playing defense, we're looking at different ways to get her in some kind of foul trouble quick to where they're gonna have to figure out a Plan B."

When Notre Dame has the ball, the Lady Eagles will work to keep Fisher from getting the ball in her hands.

"The key for us is to deny her the ball," French said. "They rely on her for everything as far as getting on the board, offensively, and getting rebounds. If we can be in good position on defense and if we can be in good position and block out and get the rebound, we can control that aspect of the game as well. That takes away easy buckets for them."

French said her team also hopes to use its overall speed to force the action Saturday.

"They didn't really run up and down the floor as well as we do," French said. "So, we're hoping to capitalize on our speed and get the ball into the hands of whoever's closest to our basket and get some quick buckets and kind of build a cushion to where it'll give us a little bit of room to relax into our game mode after getting a few points."

French said her team will do what it can to disrupt Notre Dame up and down the court.

"The thing we keep talking about is let them make the mistakes," French said. "So, we're not necessarily going for the steal. We're not necessarily trying to do anything other than play solid on our part and make them get frustrated and start throwing the ball away and start crumbling, and then us capitalizing on it."

The Lady Eagles are two victories away from heading to the state tournament and four wins away from winning a state championship. They hope to begin counting down those numbers Saturday.